Editing Timeline of paleontology (section)

==Antiquity – 16th century== 
* 6th century B.C.&nbsp;— The [[pre-Socratic]] Greek philosopher [[Xenophanes]] of Colophon argues that fossils of marine organisms show that dry land was once under water.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/history/ancient.html|title=Evolution and Paleontology in the Ancient World|publisher=University of California Museum of Paleontology|access-date=2012-07-05}}</ref> 
* 4th century B.C.&nbsp;—&nbsp;[[Aristotle]] posits that the [[Rock (geology)|stoniness]] of [[fossil]]s is caused by vaporous exhalations.<ref name=Rudwick />
* 1027&nbsp;— The [[Islamic geography|Persian naturalist]] [[Avicenna]] elaborates on Aristotle's speculations in ''[[The Book of Healing]]'' by proposing that fossils are caused by [[Petrifaction|petrifying]] fluids (''succus lapidificatus'').<ref name=Rudwick>{{Cite book|title=The Meaning of Fossils: Episodes in the History of Palaeontology|first=M. J. S.|last=Rudwick|year=1985|publisher=[[University of Chicago Press]]|isbn=0-226-73103-0|page=24}}</ref>
* 1031-1095&nbsp;— The [[History of science and technology in China|Chinese naturalist]] [[Shen Kuo]] uses evidence of [[Marine (ocean)|marine]] fossils found in the [[Taihang Mountains]] to infer geological processes caused shifting of seashores over time,<ref>[[Shen Kuo]],''Mengxi Bitan'' (梦溪笔谈; ''[[Dream Pool Essays]]'') (1088)</ref> and uses petrified [[bamboo]]s found underground in [[Yan'an]], to argue for gradual [[climate change (general concept)|climate change]].<ref name="needham volume 3 614">{{cite book|last=Needham|first=Joseph|author-link=Joseph Needham|title=''Science and Civilization in China: Volume 3, Mathematics and the Sciences of the Heavens and the Earth''|publisher=Caves Books Ltd|year=1986|isbn=0-253-34547-2|page=614}}</ref>
* 1320-1390&nbsp;— Avicenna's theory of petrifying fluids is elaborated on by [[Albert of Saxony (philosopher)|Albert of Saxony]].<ref name=Rudwick/>
*c. 1500 — [[Leonardo da Vinci]] uses ichnofossils to complement his hypothesis concerning the biogenic nature of body fossils.<ref>Baucon, A. 2010. Leonardo da Vinci, the founding father of ichnology. Palaios 25. Abstract available from the [http://www.tracemaker.com author's homepage]</ref>